Bush Grub Ant Chocs

Kcal 110 Fat 7g Fat (Sats) 6g Carbs 12g (per box)

This year @ChocolateMission we were on the search for
protein packed chocolate. Today I am going to continue that search with
something a bit unexpected, but a word of warning to the squeamish: if creepy
crawlies send shivers down your spine, then best give this review a miss.

As the world population grows, producing enough food to feed
everyone is going to get ever tougher. There has been much discussion and
research into finding out how to sustain everyone in the future, from different
farming methods to alternative forms of food. One such alternative is insects,
and although many might balk at the idea, it makes perfect sense. There are
more bugs on the planet than any other form of life; not only that, but insects
are extremely nutritious and oozing with protein.

In association with the reality television show, I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!,
Bush Grub has produced a box of Ant Chocs. These are not chocolates shaped like
ants; these are the real deal. Described as ‘chocolate flavoured rounds with
ants’, a 19g box contains four discs of marbled white and dark chocolate with
black ants inside.

Looking at the nutritional information on the back, I was a
bit disappointed by the protein content. While 100g might have 18g protein
(about twice as much as an average bar of chocolate), one serving only makes a
measly 0.6g. Can you imagine how many ants one would have to eat to get any
benefit?

The packaging is neat and compact and reminds me a little of
a pillbox, but the I’m a Celebrity
logo makes it look quite gimmicky. The chocolates themselves look very
attractive and, without labelling, you would not have any idea about what lurks
inside. The odd spec of black merely looks like a currant.

The chocolate has a very subtle non-sweet aroma that is
difficult to describe – perhaps a faint pepperiness mixed with aniseed? Since I
have never made the effort to sniff an ant before, I can’t say whether this is
‘ant smell’ or not.

Although made mostly from white chocolate, the chocolate is
not at all sweet. It has the flavour of vanilla with an almost savoury
liquorice-like taste that is quite appealing. It also creates a light peppery
sensation at the back of the throat.

The texture starts off very creamy until you get to the
ants, which have an unusual crunchiness to them. It is not exactly unpleasant,
but as a texture I am unaccustomed to, it would take some time getting use to.
The only real issue I had with the ants is their tendency to get stuck at the
roof of the mouth and back of the throat. By the time I had a couple of discs,
I felt satisfied with what I’d had – not because they are particularly filling,
but because I couldn’t be bothered trying to dislodge and get everything down
again.

In the future, insects are likely to become part of a
human’s staple diet, and something to be taken seriously. At the moment,
however, the branding of Bush Grub’s Ant Chocs make them nothing more than a
novelty and something to share as a bit of a fun dare between friends. Based on
taste, they are worth trying, but texture of the ants is something some might
struggle with.